ALASKA 
most reliable areas to find the odd singing 
Tennessee in summer. A rewarding day of 
searching at Shishmaref came 6 Jun, when an 
Orange-crowned Warbler and a Northern Wa- 
terthrush were documented (ph. KS). Both 
are known from interior forested portions of 
the Seward Pen. and casual w. to the Bering 
Sea coast. Nesting behavior by a female Yel- 
low Warbler was noted in Ketchikan 2 Jun 
(AWP), where the species has not been docu- 
mented breeding, due largely to an almost 
complete lack of habitat. Follow-up visits did 
not produce any further nesting evidence. Yel- 
low Warblers are common Mainland South- 
east breeders otherwise, as evidenced by a 
running count via canoe of 68 singing birds 
on the Stikine R. between the Mt. Flemmer 
cabin and Barnes L. 6 Jun (AWP). 
A singing Chipping Sparrow was a rare find 
w. of known breeding sites in the Interior 13 
Jun (RD, AL) at milepost 315 of the Parks 
Hwy., while a pair was found carrying food 
and scolding the observers 15 Jul at Kenny L. 
(AL), where nesting is suspected. Following 
recent summer finds from e. Unalaska I. in 
the e. Aleutians, Fox Sparrows (2 ads. and a 
juv.) were seen along a gravel road at Cap- 
tain’s Bay, Unalaska I. 31 Jul (RAM, SG). The 
presence of singing birds and occasional juvs., 
including a bob-tailed bird in Jul 2003, con- 
tinues to provide circumstantial breeding evi- 
dence here beyond the traditional nesting 
range to the e. at Unimak Island. Surprising 
for midsummer was what was probably a late 
migrant ad. Harris’s Sparrow at a Juneau feed- 
er 6-7 Jun (GBW, MM). The Ketchikan area’s 
first mid-summer White-crowned Sparrow 
appeared there 14 Jul (AWP, SCH). White- 
crowneds do not breed in Southeast and are 
uncommon migrants otherwise. Notable in 
the e. Aleutians was a juv. Golden-crowned 
Sparrow in willows of Captain's Bay, Unalaska 
I. 31 Jul (RAM, SG). As with Fox Sparrow, 
Golden-crowneds reach their breeding limits 
to the e. of here on Unimak Island. While this 
could be circumstantial evidence of local 
breeding, the date hints more to post-breed- 
ing dispersal. Getting late were 4 Rustic 
Buntings at St. Paul 6-12 Jun (St. Paul Tour), 
while a Rustic that appeared in early Jun at 
Gambell was still around through at least 5 
Jun (Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, ph. KZ). 
Surprisingly, several pairs of Snow Buntings 
double-clutched at a North Slope site at the 
Colville R. mouth QH); while there is plenty 
of food and abundant daylight at this latitude, 
the timing required to pull off two broods in 
the extreme conditions of the Arctic Coast is 
surely tight. 
Stunning ad. male Rose-breasted Gros- 
beaks were conspicuous offshore in South- 
east at Craig on Prince of Wales I. 22 Jun (ph. 
PC, SJM) and n. at Juneau 30 Jun (ph. KC), 
the 7th and 8th Alaska records. Given that 
there were only three Alaska reports before 
1995, it was a banner showing for Black- 
headed Grosbeaks. Two were at Twin Lakes 
on the Stikine R. 10 Jun, with one the next 
day (ph. AWP, EWC, JDL, JED), while the 
singles from the spring season remained 
through 6 Jun at Wrangell (BHD, JM) and 
through 9 Jun on the lower Stikine R. (BN). 
Black-headeds breed regularly n. to s. British 
Columbia, where its range has expanded 
steadily over the past 50 years. A female- 
plumaged Lazuli Bunting was nicely docu- 
mented at Ketchikan 26 Jun (ph. SCH, LP), 
the Region’s 8th record; all of Alaska’s records 
come from Southeast. 
An aggregation of 80 Red-winged Black- 
birds in Juneau’s Pioneer Marsh 24 Jul (ph. 
GBW) was easily the largest count ever for 
Southeast, where the species is fairly com- 
mon in limited habitat on the Mainland. The 
season’s lone Brambling report was a single at 
St. Paul 26 Jun (St. Paul Tour), where there 
are few mid-season records. Also odd for 
midsummer and casual in the Pribilofs were 
2 Common Rosefinches at St. Paul 7-8 Jul 
(St. Paul Tour). Most of the Region’s records 
come from the first two weeks of Jun. The 
small introduced spruce grove on Amaknek 
1. near Unalaska harbored a juv. White- 
winged Crossbill 10 Jul (ph. RAM), the first 
documented Aleutian record. There are two 
previous sight records, from Adak and Attu. 
Unusual for the North Slope from the 
Colville R. delta were several double-clutch 
Hoary Redpoll nests, where few have been re- 
ported previously (JH). While observers re- 
ported Pine Siskins as locally common be- 
yond their normal nesting range, the small 
numbers that wandered off the Mainland 
were by far the most significant. A group of 5 
reached St. Paul 30-31 Jul (St. Paul Tour), 
where they are sporadic and casual mostly as 
fall migrants to the Bering Sea islands. The 
Amaknek 1. spruce grove also provided sub- 
strate for siskins, with 2 first found 9 Jul fol- 
lowed by 6 mixed with a group of Common 
Redpolls 30 Jul (ph. RAM, SG). There are two 
prior mid-summer Aleutian records. United 
States Fish and Wildlife staff happened on a 
calling male American Goldfinch in the e. In- 
terior at Scottie Cr., about a km from the 
Canadian border 9 Jun (tPK, AM). Half of 
the Region’s six records have been photo- 
graphically documented, and this is the 3rd 
from summer. Way out of habitat was a lone 
Hawfinch feeding in rocky coastal tundra 
near Wooley L. just outside of Nome 4-6 Jun 
(Wilderness Birding, AL, ph. AS, LD). There 
are now three records for the Alaska Main- 
land. Following their first nesting attempt at 
Ketchikan from the spring, a pair of House 
Sparrows re-nested and was seen carrying 
food to the active nest 14 Jul (AWP, SCH). 
The female was accompanied by 2 recently 
fledged young at the site 1 Aug (ph. AWP). 
These observations confirm the successful 
nesting in Alaska at the site from which most 
records have come. 
Contributors and observers (subregional 
compilers in boldface): N. Ahgupuk, B. A. 
Agler, J. B. Allen, R. H. Armstrong, G. Baluss, 
B. Benter, S. Berns, J. Brady-Power, G. V Byrd, 
M. Cady, J. Calambokidis, E. W. Clark, P. Cof- 
fey, C. Corin, K. Crenshaw, J. E. Dearborn, D. 
F Delap, P. Delate, B. H. Demerjian, L. De- 
vaney, D. Dewhurst, J. DeWitt, N. DeWitt (In- 
terior), B. Dittrick, P. S. Doherty, N. K. 
Drumheller, S. DuBois, L. Edfelt, S. Echols, P 
Eldridge, M. Enright, T. Eskelin, T. Evans, 
Field Guides (D. Stejskal, M. Crewe et al), D. 
Fox, P. & C. Fritz, C. A. Fultz, T. Galloway, S. 
Garbowski, D. D. Gibson, R. E. Gill, M. 
Goetschkes, M. R. Goff, S. Golodoff, R. J. Gor- 
don, T. L. Goucher, D. Graham, C. Griswold, 
G. 6s: H. Gross, S. Hansen, M K. Hart, C. Har- 
wood, N. Hajdukovich, S. C. Heinl (South- 
east), J. Helmericks, 1. Helmericks, K. Hocker, 
P 6s: T. Hunt, B. Hunter, J. Huntington, D. 
Hurley, M. J. Iliff, J. Johnson, K. Johnson, P. 
Keller, W. Keys, , E M. Kissling. Kistler, J. E 
Koerner, G. Koonooka, K. Kuletz, A. Lang, S. 
J. McCurdy, B. Meiklejohn, N. Mollett, J. 
Morse, L. J. Oakley, B. Paige, J. D. Levison, T. 
Lewis, M. 6s: R. A. Macintosh, D. MacKay D. 
MacPhail, R. Mongoyak, M. McCafferty C. 
McIntyre, E, Pandolfino, B. Pawuk, L. Peavler, 
B. Peluso, G. Pendleton, A. W. Piston (South- 
east), J. E. Piston, D.& S. Porter, E Pourchot, 
D. Prentki, J. Puschock, J. Ranlett, M. Reedy, 
K. M. Ripley D. Roby P. A. Rose, C. L. Ross, 
D. Rudis, K. Russell, J. Sauer, L. Scharf, R. L. 
Scher, G. Schorr, M. W. Schwan, A. Selin, S. 
Senner, D. Shaw, G. Smith, D. W. Sonneborn, 
M. Spindler, E. Stahl, K. Stenek, St. Paul Tour 
(S. Schuette, Stephan Lorenz, Sean Hegarty), 
S. Studebaker, P. M. Suchanek, A. Swingley 
M. E. Tedin, T. Tobish,J. Trochet, C. Trussell, 
W. Tweit, S. Urvina, T. Van Pelt, G. B. Van Vli- 
et, P. Vanselow, C Victor Emanuel Nature 
Tours (B. Zimmer, K. Zimmer et al.), V Vos- 
burg, M. L. Ward, K. L. Wendt, L. A. Wild, 
Wilderness Birding Adventures (B. Dittrick, 
A. Lang et al.), M. E Wilson, R. Winckler, J. 
Withrow, K. Zervos, B. Zimmer, K. Zimmer, S. 
Zimmerman, K. Zufelt. 
Thede Tobish, 2510 Foraker Drive 
Anchorage, Alaska 99517, (tgtijoifflgci.net) 
642 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
